In need for help
by linalove
Summary: Sweeney Todd never asks for help or does he?I'm not good at summuries so just read it.Sweenett...almost.Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Sweeney Todd or Nellie Lovett.**

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**In need for help**

Sweeney Todd was looking outside his window while cleaning the blood from one of his razors. The man he had just killed had been rather talkative. He kept talking about how wonderful London is, with his warm and friendly people and about other foolish things that Sweeney hardly paid any attention to. So, it was a pleasure for him to shut that man's mouth forever. As he was gazing out, all he could think was his revenge and that all the filth that inhabited London deserved to die. Then he remembered his wife and child again and their happy life together. He even remembered Mrs. Lovett who was full of life so many years ago.

As thoughts of hate and revenge were clouding his mind he didn't pay enough attention to his hand which was cleaning his precious _friend._ In one clumsy movement, he hurt his hand making a deep cut on his palm. He was so lost in thought that only when he felt warm liquid running down his hand and onto the old wooden floor did he stop his movements.

He looked down and saw that the cloth he was holding was wet with his victim's blood and now his own. He just kept staring at it not moving at all.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile, Nellie Lovett was in her shop putting the last tray of pies into the oven. The truth was that now with Toby's help the shop was going better and her work was not so tiring anymore. The poor lad was being very helpful and willing to do anything Nellie told him to.

Going back upstairs to the kitchen counter, she realized that it was lunch time. She made a tray of food and she was ready to bring it up to the barber when Toby came in from the market.

'Mum, I'm back!' he shouted from the doorway.

'Hello, lad! That was fast! Did you bring the spices I asked you to buy?' she asked putting the tray down.

'Yes! Here they are!' he said handing them to her.

'That's me good boy. Here, sit down and have some lunch, I'm going to bring Mr.T his food. I'll be right back!' she said picking up the tray and heading for the stairs.

When she was up she knocked twice, waiting for his permission to enter. When she didn't receive an answer she became worried. She hesitated a second before opening the door. As she walked in, she saw Sweeney standing in front of his large window, not moving a muscle.

'Hello dear! Brought you some lunch!' she said cheerily.

As usually she didn't receive a response from him, not even his familiar grunt. He just stood there unmoving.

'Had many customers today, luv?' she asked, trying to get a response from him. Again he gave no answer.

'Mr.T? Can you hear me?' she asked again, moving closer to him.

As she got near him, she saw all the blood on the floor and she became quite nervous.

'Are you alright, dear?' she whispered softly, putting a hand on his arm.

Sweeney didn't even hear her enter. He was lost in his own world while looking blankly on his bleeding hand. But as soon as he felt a hand touching his arm, he jumped away from the touch as if it had burned him. He turned around looking at her with eyes full of anger mixed with sadness and confusion. As he realized who she was his gaze turned completely dark and furious.

'What are you doing in here, woman?! What do you want?' he asked in a throaty whisper.

Mrs. Lovett stood there with her eyes wide, full with fear. Suddenly she looked down and saw that the blood was falling from his hand and she gasped.

'Mr.T, you are bleeding, dear! Here let me…'but before she had a chance to finish her sentence he interrupted her.

'I'm fine! I asked you a question but you obviously didn't hear it! So I ask you again. What .do .you. want!?' he said in a dangerously low voice.

'I just brought you some food, Mr.T. I knocked but you didn't hear me so I just…'she said softly.

'So, you just decided to barge in here!' he finished for her angrily.

'Now, Mr.T! No reason for you to get angry. I was worried so I decided to check on you! And it seems to me I had a good reason to worry! What happened to your hand, dear?' she asked in a worried voice softly.

'Nothing that concerns you! Now leave me be!' he replied, his anger rising.

'Just let me help you first. We have to wash all that blood from your hand and see if your hand needs any stitches. How did that happen anyway?' she said while moving closer to him again, trying to get a closer look.

'You have no understanding, do you? I said leave me alone! I don't need your fucking help!' he roared in front of her face pushing her away from him with his good hand.

'But you…'she tried, her eyes feeling with tears.

'OUT!' he yelled at her again pushing her more forcefully this time that she nearly lost her balance while trying to get to the door.

As soon as she was out of his shop she ran down the stairs and into her room ignoring Toby's questions. She sat on her bed trying to control her sobs of hurt and anger. How dared he treating her that way. She was just trying to be helpful. She cared for him, she loved him. But all he could think was his revenge on the judge. All he talked about was his precious Lucy and their perfect life together!

He was so different fifteen years ago. He was so nice and sweet. He used to talk to her with respect. He used to smile to her with his warm eyes shining.

Now he didn't even notice her anymore. She was just a burden to him that he had to tolerate although _**she**_ was the one taking care of him.

Her tears kept falling and she reached inside her drawer to take out something to wipe them away. Her hand found an old piece of clothing that used to be a scarf. She took it in her hand and as she looked at it she remembered something that happened years go.

_Flashback_

_Young Nellie was sitting in one of the chairs of her shop, crying softly. It was late in the night so there weren't any customers in the shop. It was a very cold night and she was just sitting there in a thin dress, way too thin for a winter night like this one. But she didn't seem to care._

_The cause of her sadness was a certain barber who lived upstairs, Benjamin Barker. The young man had been living in the room above her shop for about a year now with his beautiful wife Lucy. He was tall, with brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. He was very well mannered and very honest. Lucy was very beautiful with her long blond hair and blue eyes but she was a bit arrogant and quite silly, the exact opposite of Nellie._

_Not that Nellie wasn't good looking. On the contrary actually. She was very pretty with her curly auburn hair, her warm brown eyes and full lips._

_The young girl had grown a fondness for Benjamin that after some time turned into love. But the young man was married so Nellie could only be with him in her dreams._

_Just as her tears had started to dry voices interrupted her solitude. She looked up and she saw the young couple from upstairs entering her shop. They were laughing and walking hand in hand. Benjamin looked up from his giggling wife to look at Nellie. He stopped laughing when he saw her tears._

'_Good evening, Nellie. Is something wrong?' Ben said in a concerned voice._

'_No, Mr. Barker. Everything is fine.' she said in a fake cheery voice while trying to wipe away her last tears._

'_You don't look fine to me, dear.'he said again warmly, coming closer to her while letting go of his wife's hand._

'_Benny! She said she was fine! Let's go upstairs! I'm tired.' Lucy whined, not even sparing a look at Nellie._

'_You go ahead, darling. I won't be long' he said to her._

'_Oh all right.' she said giving him a kiss on the mouth unaware of Nellie's stare._

_After they were alone, Benjamin took a sit next to Nellie._

'_So what's with all this crying then,hmm?'he asked her again._

_She just lowered her head without answering him. The truth was that she didn't know what to tell him. She couldn't just say that she loved him. That was impossible._

'_Did someone hurt you? Are you not feeling well? Please tell me. I thought we were friends.' he tried again_

'_No, nobody hurt me. I'm just not feeling very well. I have a terrible headache and I couldn't sleep. But don't worry. I'll be fine.' she lied while smiling weakly at him._

'_Oh…are you sure there's nothing I can do?' he asked warmly again._

'_No I'll just sit here for a bit and then I'm going to try and get some sleep' she said._

'_Alright…So, I'll leave you to your thoughts. Um…aren't you cold in here?' he asked after a moment's thought._

'_Oh…Just a bit' she answered._

'_Well, there's something I can do. Here.' he said as he gave her his scarf and helped her to put it around her neck and shoulders, all the while smiling at her._

'_Thank you. Mr. Barker she said blushing and smiling shyly to him_

'_No problem. And please call me Benjamin, love.' he said sweetly to her._

'_Alright, Benjamin.' she replied softly._

_Just before he disappeared upstairs he called to her._

'_You can keep the scarf by the way, darling! Consider it a gift!' he said leaving her with a warm smile on her face._

_End of flashback_

Mrs. Lovett smiled while remembering his kind and sweet words while holding tight onto the old scarf he had given her so many years ago. But when she suddenly heard the barber pacing angrily upstairs, her smile transformed into a frown. Now this was her reality, this was her life. She just wished he was just a little nicer to her. She just wanted to be close to him.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. It was Toby. Poor thing must have been wondering what was wrong with her. So, she wiped away her tears and went to the door.

'Come on Toby! Help me make some pancakes, luv.'she said cheerily while smiling sweetly to him.

'Mum, are you alright?' he asked.

'Of course I'm alright, dear! Come on. Let's go to the kitchen!' she said while ruffling his hair.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile, Sweeney was trying to stop the blood on his hand but the cut was so deep that he couldn't stop the bleeding. While wrapping a cloth around the cut he remembered the incident with Mrs. Lovett

That annoying woman couldn't understand that he wanted to be alone. She was always breathing down his neck. He didn't need her damned help! Or… did he?

_No! Sweeney Todd never needed help! He was fine!_ Looking down in his hand again he saw that the cloth was soaked once more. The damned cut needed stitches. How was he supposed to do that! He didn't want to go to a doctor! He wouldn't make a fool of himself saying he had cut his own hand with his own razor because he was so lost in his own world!

He also couldn't go to the baker after the way he had treated her! She wouldn't even want to look at him right now. But no, he wasn't sorry. She needed to learn her place. She needed to stop being so clingy and annoying! But as he remembered her pretty brown eyes filled with fear and tears he felt a pang of guilt. _Wait…since when he_ _thought her eyes were pretty?_ Well…he wasn't blind! She was pretty but Sweeney Todd couldn't feel love! He knew that she had a fondness for him and he chose to ignore her. He had eyes only for his Lucy! But Lucy was gone and he was alone… With that thought he opened the door and fled down the stairs. He was going to ask for her help and she was going to help him even if she didn't want to.

As he stepped into her shop he saw her cooking with that annoying boy she had decided to adopt. They looked up from their work to see him staring at them.

'Can I have a word, Mrs. Lovett?' he asked as he looked at her.

'Can't it wait? I'm busy right now!' she replied coldly.

'Really? With what? I don' see any customers!' he replied angrily

'I'm making pancakes for Toby! So you have to wait!' she shot back. She was still angry with him.

'I think your brat can wait! My problem can't wait though!' he said glaring at the boy and at his landlady.

'Oh fine! Toby, go to the parlor. We'll finish in a moment.' she said smiling to the boy.

'Yes mum' he muttered obediently while glaring at the barber.

'Well, what do you want?' she asked him weakly.

'Ineedyourhelpwithmyhand!'he said quickly.

'What? You have to speak up, dear!' said confused.

'I need your help with my hand. I can't stop the bleeding and I think it needs stitches.' he admitted.

'I recall that a few hours ago you didn't need any help. So do it yourself, you ignorant thing!' she said angrily.

'Well, I can't do it with one hand!' he shouted.

'Well, if you want my help you have to apologize to me!' she said wickedly.

'That's not going to happen! Forget it!' he said walking away only to return a couple of minutes later.

'Ready to apologize? Let's hear it then.' she said laughing. He was unbelievable.

'I'm sorry.' he said quietly.

'I don't think I heard you! Can you repeat?' she lied.

'I'm sorry!' he repeated louder.

'Oh alright, no need to shout!' she said leading him to a chair.

He sat down while she fetched a needle and thread to fix his hand. When she was done she looked up to see him staring at her with his dark eyes.

'All done, dearie!' She said breaking the silence.

'Thank you.' he said quietly. He sat up ready to leave but then he stopped. He looked back at her like he wanted something more to say.

'What is it, Mr.T?' She asked.

He didn't answer her. He just leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

'Thank you again, Nellie.' he whispered before he disappeared upstairs, leaving a stunned Mrs. Lovett behind him.

She brought her hand on her cheek and touched the place where he had kissed her.

'He and his mood swings!' she said amazed but felt happy at the same time. Maybe it was possible to make him love her after all.

**The End**

**Edited: 10/2012**


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